Talking About Politics

America’s Exceptional Gun Problem

I was planning to do a follow-up post today on the NFL protest controversy, but in the wake of the horror in Las Vegas, it’s hard to talk about anything else, isn’t it? The case for sane gun control laws has been made many times, but this article is still worth reading: it provides a great graphic compilation of the relevant statistics.

3 comments

Jeffrey Herrmann October 5, 2017 at 2:03 am

It could have been, and might still be, possible to have sane gun control laws in the US.
All it would take is five Supreme Court justices to interpret the Second Amendment as follows:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms [while serving in the militia], shall not be infringed.” [words in brackets are mine]
It is not unreasonable to hold that this is what the Amendment was meant to assure.
Then, the gun nuts could join their National Guards, play shoot-em-up on weekends and during annual manoeuvres to their hearts’ content, and then lock up their guns in the armories before going home.

tonygreco October 5, 2017 at 12:44 pm

I’m not that familiar with the judicial history, but my understanding is that yours actually was the Court’s interpretation, at least implicitly, until the Heller decision in 2008. Am I right?

A more radical decision by the Court would be to hold that, since the 2nd amendment is clearly premised on the existence of militias sanctioned by the State, the whole amendment is null and void. I think that would be perfectly reasonable, but of course it will never happen.

Jeffrey Herrmann October 8, 2017 at 4:05 am

Prior to Heller the Miller case (1939) had held that gun ownership had to bear a reasonable relationship to a well regulated militia.
My suggested interpretation is stricter — the bearing of arms while in the service of the militia is the only protected right. Every other kind of possession would be up for prohibition, or protection, by the relevant legislatures. Federalism would be respected, unless Congress passed a national ban.